


is this the place we used to love

by aeriamamaduck



Series: Somewhere to Begin [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Animal Transformation, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brothers, Communication, Discussions of infidelity, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Established Relationship, Forgiveness, Friendship, Jealousy, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, Love, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Mental Link, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Protective Yuri Plisetsky, Relationship Discussions, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:20:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeriamamaduck/pseuds/aeriamamaduck
Summary: Yuuri realizes just what he's been avoiding, even after he's had forgiveness.





	is this the place we used to love

**Author's Note:**

> This universe just won't let me go. So it's going to get a little bigger soon. :3 I'll explain more in the End Notes.

* * *

 

_There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back_

_Well tell her that I miss our little talks_  
 

* * *

 

Yuuri was home. He'd been home for weeks.

 

Yet there were days when Hasetsu felt entirely foreign to him, closed off and potentially unfriendly. Days when he thought it'd be a good idea to not overstay his welcome and go back to his cabin, a place that only belonged to him and him alone.

 

He managed to dig himself out of that mire of thoughts, remembering that he couldn't spend his whole life running. As much as some insecure part of him really wanted it, Yuuri knew he couldn't hope to make everyone happy. There were bound to be one or two people that disliked him. His young brother-in-law included, unfortunately.

 

 _And whose fault is that?_ a small voice inside of him asked dryly. Yuuri swallowed, not wanting to think about the cold stares he got in the streets, as though asking him how he dared show his face after what he'd done. Yuri wasn't...quite as hostile, but Yuuri didn't really blame him for it, as he was only looking out for Victor. He concentrated on helping Mari fold the guest sheets, freshly laundered and sweetly fragrant. 

 

For more than an hour he sensed his sister's stare on him, and didn't quite know what to make of it. He heard her inhale and looked up, focusing his attention on her. Mari looked oddly nervous and thoughtful as she looked at him, holding a folded sheet in front of her as she slowly said, "So...I wasn't going to say anything with Victor around...But have you spoken to Yuuko at all since you two went to see her?"

 

Yuuri paled and nearly dropped the sheet he was holding, staring at his sister in shock. "O-of course not!" he exclaimed, his mind telling him to go in any direction that would help him avoid this conversation. He knew it was no use, especially when his family was rather stubborn. "Why do you ask?"

 

And of course he'd done a poor job of hiding his reaction from her, though Mari raised a placating hand and said, "Easy, little brother. I'm just making sure everything's alright between the four of you."

 

Right. She was including Takeshi in their complicated little group. Yes, they'd all visited once soon after Yuuri's return, but there hadn't been another visit since, and Yuuri hadn't been alone with Yuuko since the day she sought him out in his cabin. "Everything's perfectly fine," he said flatly, putting the folded sheets in the cupboard and reaching for the ones Mari held. "Look, what Yuuko and I had is in the past, and I think we both just want to be friends and keep moving on with our lives and..."

 

"Try to forget?" Mari finished for him, just as flatly as him.

 

He didn't look at her, feeling everyone's doubts like a heavy weight on his shoulders. Among them Victor's. But of course he'd given them more than enough cause to doubt him, and perhaps he'd spend the rest of his life proving himself. Sighing, Yuuri finally dragged his gaze to meet Mari's. "Victor knows Yuuko was important to me, and he knows that I'd never do anything to hurt him. Mari, I know I made a mistake, but is it so hard to believe that I don't want to make that same mistake again?"

 

Mari regarded him for a long moment, eyes filled with worry, for _him_ , and the mere fact that someone could concern themselves over him was still such a shock. "I guess not. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you would. I just thought there was a reason you were avoiding Yuuko."

 

"I'm not avoiding her!" he exclaimed, knowing that wasn't quite the truth. With everything still so complicated and tense, Yuuri wasn't sure what steps he wanted to take next. He didn't want anything he did to be misconstrued as some attempt to revisit the past with Yuuko, but at this point it seemed that people would naturally jump to that conclusion no matter how innocently he approached her.

 

"Well, you said want a friendship with her," Mari observed, carrying on with the folding. "Friends tend to see each other more than once a month. They spend time together and talk..."

 

"You  _have_ noticed that people still talk behind my back?" Yuuri asked with a sigh. 

 

"Still? Gods, I need to look more threatening when I walk down the street then."

 

"Mari...!"

 

She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently before drawing away with a smirk. "I'm your big sister. It's my job to look out for you. Especially when these idiots are acting like all you two are going to do is picture each other naked whenever you're together." 

 

Yuuri winced at her blunt words, reddening at the thought of such an act, even if it was only in their minds. But he hadn't thought of Yuuko in that way in years. That wouldn't change what other people thought. Or what young Yuri thought. 

 

...Perhaps even Victor. _No. No, he trusts you,_ he told himself.  _He loves you, and he knows you love him._  

 

Still looking at him thoughtfully, Mari asked in soft tones, "...Is it because you're afraid of making Victor feel jealous?"

 

"It's a little more complicated than that," Yuuri admitted. In no way did he want to add to any of Victor's remaining insecurities, nor did he want to potentially make Takeshi think his intentions were anything but platonic. But more than anything Yuuri didn't want to give people cause to talk about him even more. 

 

"And baby brother isn't getting into the details," Mari sighed with an understanding smile. 

 

Even so Yuuri still saw the concern there, and let himself feel grateful for it. He smiled back at her reassuringly, silencing his worries for the moment. "I'm happy. Alright? I promise."

 

Mari seemed to ponder whether or not she wanted to believe him, and must have decided that she would. "Good."

 

* * *

 

The next afternoon found Yuuri walking to the market on his own, the very last thing he wanted to do. 

 

Victor wasn't with him because he'd already volunteered to help Mari make lunch for the handful of guests at the inn, and Yuuri didn't have the heart to steal him away from her. He knew better than to ask Yuri to join him, not wanting to subject himself to the boy's glares this early in the morning. It was a shame, really, especially when Yuuri thought the boy was actually starting to like him.

 

Even worse he could really feel everyone staring at him, and he felt as naked as a newborn. There wasn't much he could do about it other than keep moving. He knew he'd been the subject of conversation back in the city, but then it had all been innocent speculation that Yuuri didn't want to bother clarifying. Here nothing was speculation, and every instinct in Yuuri's body was telling him to run.

 

His stomach felt tight as he did he spoke to each shopkeeper, fighting to give face and look them in the eye, feeling upset and bothered by the fact that he had to fight for a place in the village of his birth but knowing that it was all well-deserved on his part. He was before the fruit seller, one of the few friendly faces he would see, when someone approached him from the side.

 

"Hello, Yuuri!"

 

He froze. Her voice was both surprising and unwelcome, but Yuuri knew it was unreasonable to think he could avoid Yuuko forever. Inhaling shakily, Yuuri turned to face her, avoiding the fruit seller's gaze. "Hello, Yuuko..."

 

She was smiling at him, obviously happy to see him. "Will you walk with me?" she asked, voice and face filled with friendliness that made it so much harder to deny her.

 

Swallowing nervously, Yuuri gave the only answer he could at the moment. "Um...s-sure."

 

And so he was walking beside Yuuko, making sure there was a fair amount of distance between them and avoiding every stare around them. His heart was pounding with anxiety, wondering how this might look to everyone else, and part of him wanted to just run away from this and everyone around them. When minutes passed and he didn't say a word, Yuuko took it upon herself to ask in a too-bright voice, "So, you've been settling back in alright?"

 

Yuuri quickly replied, "Yes, it's been...good. Wonderful."

 

"Good. What about Victor and his brother?"

 

He couldn't help but smile in mild relief when she mentioned Victor. "Victor loves it here, but I think Yuri would rather be able to go wherever he wants whenever he wants." He felt guilty, remembering that Victor and Yuri had been hiding their identity as Changers of myth for all the time they'd been in Hasetsu. Yuri was understandably feeling a little stir-crazy, and had taken to sneakily Changing whenever he could while Victor tried to curb that habit of his.

 

"He's at that age, I suppose," Yuuko said with a soft laugh.

 

"What about Takeshi and the girls?" he asked.

 

"Takeshi's well, and the girls keep asking when their friend Victor's going to come back. He's wonderful with children."

 

"We'll have to visit again, then," Yuuri heard himself say. Why was even that such an impossibility for him? Hadn't the point been to re-establish their friendship? It wasn't as though he were asking her to run away with him, or something just as illicit that would end up hurting Victor, Takeshi, and the girls.

 

Yuuko might have sensed something in his silence or in the way he was keeping as far away from her as possible. The smile faded slightly and she quietly asked, "...We've been avoiding each other, haven't we?"

 

His first instinct was to refute that, but he knew there was no use bothering. It would only insult her and make him feel much worse. "I guess we have," he said, his voice tight.

 

"I do want us to be friends, Yuuri," she said, voice wistful and sad as they kept walking, no longer looking at each other.

 

"I know that, it's just..." That was when Yuuri dared to look up. The only other people out on the street were a pair of women Yuuri had known since childhood, women looking at him with neither friendliness nor hostility as they observed how he and Yuuko walked together. "People talk," he muttered.

 

"Yes they do," Yuuko replied, looking in the same direction as Yuuri. "We wouldn't be doing anything wrong. You and I both know that. So do Takeshi and Victor."

 

The two women finally looked away, and Yuuri sighed quietly as he reached inward, gently tugging at the connection he and Victor had. He'd explained it was a sort of mental bond between them, one that was more about presence, mood, and basic conversation than a total melding of minds. He found Victor there, a tiny, bright warmth that blazed in a once-untouched corner of his mind, and he smiled at the sensation of it. It let him say what he wanted to say to Yuuko, what he wanted to do. "I don't want to keep avoiding you."

 

She smiled at him again, warm and happy as Yuuri told himself that this was fine, that he really did have her forgiveness. People would undoubtedly keep talking, and it would still affect them all, more so if they wanted to try and prove everyone wrong. He'd hurt her. They'd moved on. She'd forgiven him. For that and the friendship they'd had as children Yuuri didn't want to cut her out of his life completely. Not again.

 

Then she peered behind him with a brief look of curiosity that quickly changed to one of adoration. "Aw, look at that adorable cat!" she cooed. "Come here, kitty!"

 

Yuuri quickly turned around to see said cat, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach. Sure enough it was a very familiar light ginger cat with green eyes that Yuuri knew very well. Those eyes were staring right at him, a hard glare of warning within them. Yuuri met that glare with a mild look, not wanting to antagonize Yuri. He was only thinking of Victor, who was the only family he had, and Yuuri would never fault him for that. "Right. Adorable," he mumbled, wondering if Victor knew what his brother was getting up to.

 

* * *

 

He and Yuuko had parted ways, Yuuri aware that Yuri was watching their every move. He didn't bother looking for the boy, knowing he'd make his way home sooner or later and potentially meet with Victor's irritation. 

 

He found Victor in the kitchen with Mari, the man wrapping him up in a brief but tight hug, letting his scent wash over Yuuri in soothing waves. He closed his eyes, almost forgetting to give Mari the groceries. Once he did he asked her to excuse them both and drew Victor out of the room.

 

"Was everything alright?" Victor asked in a gentle tone. "If I knew where Yuri was I would've sent him with you."

 

Yuuri smiled at him, gazing at him silently for a moment and looking into the love blooming in those blue eyes of his. "Everything was fine...I...talked to Yuuko in the market for a bit." He stroked the backs Victor's hands when he felt them tense for a moment. "...And she happened to notice a cat following us."

 

Victor's eyes widened and he let out a groan as he covered his eyes with his hand. "I'm so sorry, Yuuri. He just won't listen to me! I promise I didn't send him to spy on you, or-"

 

"I know you didn't," Yuuri chuckled, drawing Victor's hand away so he could press a kiss between his eyebrows. "Yuri's just looking out for you."

 

A soft blush tinted Victor's cheeks and he immediately started to relax. "Still, I  _told_ him to stop Changing, and it's like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other-"

 

Yuuri couldn't help letting out a burst of laughter that had Victor staring at him in surprise. "I'm sorry, it's just...You sound like my parents did whenever they would scold Mari." Gods, how he loved the man in front of him. He was doing so much for Yuuri, even delaying his return to his village for Yuuri's sake and keeping his abilities secret. Then Yuuri had an idea, and wondered why he hadn't thought of it before as it turned out to be such a simple solution. "Are you doing anything right now?"

 

"I just finished helping Mari. Why?"

 

"I want to take you someplace."

 

"Oh?" Victor gave him a pleased smile, and the sight of it felt like a gentle pressure around Yuuri's heart. "Well this is a surprise."

 

And Yuuri couldn't wait to see his reaction to it. "I haven't really shown you everything about this place. I want to change that." He started leading him out of the inn, Victor following with that same tender smile of love and trust that very nearly broke Yuuri's heart in the sweetest way.

 

Yuuri could still remember finding the place they were headed towards for the first time. It wasn't exactly a secret, but it was the sort of place far enough away from the village that it was rather solitary, and a source of anxiety for parents with small children. Yuuri had been old enough to be able to find his way back, and desperate enough to want to sit in that quiet clearing for a little while when he could manage it.

 

He turned to appreciate the look of awe on Victor's face as he led him into the clearing, the man's blue eyes bright and curious as ever as he took everything in. "I used to come here to be alone for a bit," Yuuri explained, Victor's gaze falling on him. "It was quiet and far enough to get away from everything."

 

"It's beautiful," Victor breathed, squeezing Yuuri's hand. "And you're right, it's quiet. I don't smell anyone else at all."

 

Yuuri led him to the center, where the sun blazed down on them. He sat on the grass, coaxing Victor down beside him. Victor immediately lay his head down on Yuuri's lap, and Yuuri let his fingers trail over the side of Victor's face.

 

"You haven't used the Change since we got here," he said after a moment of getting used to being surrounded by quiet. "I thought you and Yuri might be able to come here whenever you two wanted to use it. It's a part of you both, and I want you two to be safe for as long as we're here. And comfortable."

 

He watched surprise flicker across Victor's face, open and genuine. Then Victor sat up and pulled Yuuri into his arms, kissing him with a ferocity that had Yuuri whimpering in surprise. He was dizzy and breathless by the time Victor broke the kiss, cheeks blazing as Victor gave him a tearful smile. "What did I do to deserve you?" he breathed. "I can't believe the Gods thought I was worthy enough to be with someone like you."

 

Yuuri closed his eyes, still kiss-drunk as he smiled at the other man. "Do you ever think the Gods could've chosen a less painful way for you to meet me?"

 

"You were worth every moment," Victor murmured against his lips before kissing him again.

**Author's Note:**

> This is where the universe starts to expand a bit more and things start to get a little...complicated for Yuuri and Victor **(no cheating or break-ups, I swear!!)**.
> 
> The good news: _Otabek is coming!!!_
> 
> my tumblr: **aeriamamaduck**
> 
> Song quoted:
> 
>  _"Little Talks"_ by Of Monsters and Men


End file.
